User Reviews

Oceana

Posted by james lloyd on 08/21/2013

watery crab bad service

horrible service. had to get my own drinks by visiting the maitre 'd three times. watery crab and shrimp in a $100 appetizer with two drinks. saving grace was that the maitre 'd carried the horseradish to the table cuz she couldn't find a waiter, either.

Oceana

Posted by Kathleen on 10/18/2012

Aussie loves fish

I was in NYC with friends while travelling the globe. We wanted to try out a seafood restaurant with class. Being Australian, we have very high standards when it comes to seafood. Oceana blew our expectations out of the water. The setting is gorgeous, the staff were so nice and "on it". We started with drinks and snacks at the bar, with Calamari and the freshest oysters we've ever had. YUM. The tartar sauce was delish. Then we sat down in the main dining room for dinner. Our waitperson there was so knowledgeable and even helped us out with tourist points. We had between us the lobster, risotto, swordfish and snapper. We were all impressed, our stomachs were full and our taste buds thanked us. We paired our meals with wine suggested by the sommelier. We were surprised by how many wines were on the menu. Even some of our favourite Aussie wines!! All in all, we had a wonderful dinner and would absolutely suggest Oceana to fish foodies! It made for a perfect last night in NYC before heading home to Sydney.

Oceana

Posted by Gary on 12/08/2011

Excellent! Best seafood in the city!

I have been there twice for lunch in the past two months. The first time was outstanding....the second time was even better. The service was attentive and patient, allowing you to enjoy your meal and not feel rushed through it, however since it was lunch time, they were quick and at the ready when needed. The food was over the top excellent. The portions are a good size for a restaurant of that caliber and in ordering an appetizer and a main dish, I left full and and satisfied. The chef has an excellent menu with many options to fit any pallet. Good flavor no matter what you order and not fishy in taste at all. You can tell there is a lot of pride taken in preparing and serving each plate. On both occassions, with a restaurant fully packed with guests, the head chef was making his way around to the tables to say hello. Top notch place. I will continue to go again and again. Highly recommended!

Oceana

Posted by Anonymous on 04/22/2011

Poor food and service

6 people for a pre-theatre dinner. The food was average, at best. The experience, however, was awful. Unsure if we had a waiter, no one seemed interested in helping us, even though we were the only ones in the restaurant. Asked for menus at least three different times before they were throw down by someone who then disappeared. Every single drink that came out was either completely wrong, or given to the wrong person. If this is what the service is like when they are dead, wouldn't want to be there when they are busy.

Oceana

Posted by anonymous on 01/17/2011

Great experience

So I have had the pleasure of seeing this place get busier and better(food and service) over thelast year of dining there. Service is impeccable so I have to respond to the person who had a bad experience on that wintery Monday. Most restaurants were closed and those that were onpe closed early so their staff could get home. Take that into consideration. I have to defend this place as a regular who is taken cared of impeccably.

Oceana

Posted by Cindy on 01/01/2011

Totally inflexible- will never return

Very overpriced for a minimal amount of food. Left the restaurant hungry and angry. Chef refused to substitute a side for any other one. I've gotten much better service from much less expensive restaurants. I will never return.

Oceana

Posted by TunkuVaradarajan on 12/28/2010

Not recommended

Sour, unfriendly service mars a meal, and if the meal is as pricey as one at Oceana, sour service is positively criminal. We were practically the only people at the restaurant on a snowy Monday night (in other words, we'd made a hell of an effort to be there), and had booked in advance. We tried to order extra sides after our main courses had arrived, only to be told the kitchen had closed: It was just past 930PM. Miraculously, the kitchen was not shut when it came time to order dessert, though the curt waiter did seem to show an unseemly interest in hustling all of us to order the brownies and not any desserts that take a bit of time to prepare. There was the same hustle in the swiftness with which plates were cleared, no sooner had one put one's fork down, and wine was relentlessly topped up: All one had to do was to take a sip before a chap in uniform darted forward to pour a top-up for everyone. How transparent can the drive to get you to order multiple bottles be! This may seem like carping (no pun intended) but the delivery of every course involved ordered dishes being placed before the wrong person, a sure sign of dysfunction, inattention, and basic disinterest in the paying diner. After dinner, not much later than 10, we wanted a drink at the bar while we waited for our ride home to show up, only to be told that the bar was shut. So the six of us crossed the street and had a drink at City Lobster instead...where the bar was wide open and the service professional. As for the food...frankly, it was irrelevent. When a night out turns out to be a lesson in unprofessional service, who cares about the food. (For the record, I did have a bowl of ramen noodles when I got home, so draw your own conclusions.)